Various types of hearing prostheses may provide persons having different types of hearing loss with the ability to perceive sound. Hearing loss may be conductive, sensorineural, or some combination of both conductive and sensorineural. Conductive hearing loss typically results from a dysfunction in any of the mechanisms that ordinarily conduct sound waves through the outer ear, the eardrum, or the bones of the middle ear. Sensorineural hearing loss typically results from a dysfunction in the inner ear, including the cochlea, where sound vibrations are converted into neural signals, or any other part of the ear, auditory nerve, or brain that is associated with and/or processes the neural signals.
Persons with some forms of conductive hearing loss may benefit from hearing prostheses such as acoustic hearing aids or vibration-based hearing devices. An acoustic hearing aid typically includes a small microphone to detect sound, an amplifier to amplify certain portions of the detected sound, and a small speaker to transmit the amplified sounds into the person's ear. Vibration-based hearing devices typically include a small microphone to detect sound and a vibration mechanism to apply vibrations corresponding to the detected sound to a person's bone, thereby causing vibrations in the person's inner ear, thus bypassing the person's auditory canal and middle ear. Vibration-based hearing devices may include bone-anchored hearing devices, direct acoustic cochlear stimulation devices, or other vibration-based devices. A bone-anchored hearing device typically utilizes a surgically-implanted mechanism to transmit sound via direct vibrations of the skull. Similarly, a direct acoustic cochlear stimulation device typically utilizes a surgically-implanted mechanism to transmit sound via vibrations corresponding to sound waves to generate fluid motion in a person's inner ear. Other non-surgical vibration-based hearing devices may use similar vibration mechanisms to transmit sound via direct vibration of teeth or other cranial or facial bones.
Persons with certain forms of sensorineural hearing loss may benefit from hearing prostheses such as cochlear implants and/or auditory brainstem implants. For example, cochlear implants may provide a person having sensorineural hearing loss with the ability to perceive sound by stimulating the person's auditory nerve via an array of electrodes implanted in the person's cochlea. The cochlear implant detects sound waves and converts them into a series of electrical stimulation signals that are delivered to the implant recipient's cochlea via the array of electrodes. Auditory brainstem implants may use technology similar to cochlear implants, but instead of applying electrical stimulation to a person's cochlea, an auditory brainstem implant applies electrical stimulation directly to a person's brain stem, bypassing the cochlea altogether. Electrically stimulating auditory nerves in a cochlea with a cochlear implant or electrically stimulating a brainstem may enable a person with sensorineural hearing loss to perceive sound.
Typically, at one or more times during the life of a hearing prosthesis, an audiologist or other professional configures or reconfigures the prosthesis with a particular set of operating parameters. Generally, these operating parameters are specially tailored to address the recipient's particular type of hearing loss. However, some recipients are hesitant to accept any new operating parameters because of potential discomfort experienced as a result of the new way in which the hearing prosthesis applies stimulation. Accordingly, it may be advantageous to mitigate this potential discomfort.